


Who Dares To Love Forever? - Fairytale AU

by mansikka



Series: Who Dares To Love Forever? [9]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, M/M, POV Alec Lightwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 14:45:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23105560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mansikka/pseuds/mansikka
Summary: A difficult meeting at the Clave forces a conversation about the one thing Magnus and Alec aren’t ready to even think about. After much reflection and research, Alec embarks on a journey to become immortal. Though with ceremonies to perform, sacrifices to be made, and an unexpected ‘gift’ from an absent Asmodeus, what will they both have to endure, to get their truly happy ever after?
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Who Dares To Love Forever? [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602904
Comments: 11
Kudos: 76
Collections: SHBingo





	Who Dares To Love Forever? - Fairytale AU

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is for the bingo square _Fairytale AU_, and the fairytale this is based on in The Frog Prince! Notes on previous chapters explain what is happening!

Alec hated arguments. To him, the air always seemed to crackle when an argument was brewing, giving him precious few minutes to get out of the way before those harsh words turned into a fight. As the eldest child of the Lightwoods Alec was used to assessing the tension in his parent's spines, the scowls on their faces, knowing whether this particular argument was enough to take him outside or not.

Today was an outside day, one on which Alec wished not for the first time that he wasn't the next in line to take over their family's business, that he hadn't felt duty-bound to continue living at home. Though where else would be home for him? This was the only life he had ever known.

As so often happened on days like this one, Alec crept into the shed behind the back of the house drawing out his bow and quiver from the nook in the wall he'd hid it in. The weight of it over his shoulder was soothing as he made his way deep into the forest towards the edge of their sprawling property. A few hours firing arrows at tree stumps and all might feel well in his world again.

Alec's aim was steady and his target true, the nervous tension across his shoulders for his parents' harsh words easing every time he let an arrow fly. Though because this argument was louder than any other he could recall, Alec found himself moving deeper and deeper into the forest, ducking beneath tree branch and jumping over creek, almost slipping in the shifting leaves that had fallen from the canopy above.

On one such stumble, an arrow slipped from Alec's hands, and in his haste to catch it the strap of his quiver slipped from his shoulder, falling into a deep ravine below. Alec cursed, loud and echoing. He searched for a way down but couldn't find a safe path to follow. 

It was at the point of Alec giving up, bracing for the long walk back to the house without the comfort of his bow and quiver, that Alec spotted a cat. The cat sat neatly on a tree stump not three feet from Alec observing him in what he could only describe as amusement. The cat's fur was thick, and plush, almost-shimmering, meaning Alec couldn't decide if it was brown, or orange, or even tan. Its eyes were distinctive, however, prominent and unshifting as it stared back at him. Alec was sure that cat was _laughing_ at him.

"I don't suppose _you_ know a way down there so I can get my bow back?" Alec asked, not meaning his words at all. 

The cat's tail twitched, one soft thump against the stump it was perched on. Alec watched the cat delicately jump down and disappear from sight, feeling foolish for not even being able to keep a cat's company. Though before he could stoop and begin his trudge back through the forest, Alec heard a dragging sound that stopped him in his tracks. One glance over the ravine and his heart was pounding in excitement and disbelief. Alec continued to watch as the cat dragged the bow back up to him by holding it in his mouth. Alec knelt in the grass laughing in surprise when the cat dropped the bow in his lap, and only minutes later returned with the quiver.

"You're magical," Alec said in wonder, tracing his hands over his treasured possessions then turning to smile at the cat in thanks. The cat blinked at him, sat neatly again as though waiting for something. Alec held out his hand gently patting the cat on its flank, laughing once again as the cat stuck its head into his hand then nuzzled against him, beginning to purr.

"What are you doing out here alone, huh?" Alec asked as the cat continued purring, snuggling against his thigh. It was clearly well-fed and cared for, for its glossy fur, but there was something in the eyes of the cat that made Alec hesitate, made him want to learn more. 

The cat seemed just as interested in him, standing patiently beside Alec as he threw the quiver strap back over his shoulder, holding on to it tight.

"You're coming with me?" Alec asked when the cat appeared to be falling into stride with him. The cat didn't look up; if anything its stridge became more determined. Alec smiled for his new feline companion, as together they made their way up to the house.

* * *

The cat kept Alec company everywhere. It followed him to his private rooms, even sitting in the bathroom as he bathed, though with his head facing the door as though to give Alec his privacy. The cat would follow him into the dining room, looking at a vacant chair until Alec pulled it up beside him, then stare at whatever was on his plate until Alec held out his hand to give him a bite of something to eat. When Alec worked, spending lengthy hours on paperwork that didn't mean anything to him but he had to complete to keep his parent's happy, the cat would either perch on a corner of his desk as though supervising his words, or curl up in the corner of the room, never out of Alec's sight. 

Perhaps at night was the strangest, or most exhilarating time for Alec and his new cat companion. Two amber eyes would blink at him from the pillow beside him as though waiting for Alec to talk. And talk he did; knowing there would be no consequences, no retribution for letting his thoughts be spoken out loud, Alec shared everything with the cat. Everything he dreamed about but knew he would never get to have. All the things he hoped for himself that he knew he would never be allowed to have. The cat became Alec's confidante, the confider of all his secrets, and never seemed to need more from him than a kind word, or an affectionate pet. The cat was more than happy to curl up beside him and sleep, only moving when Alec did, or purring and nuzzling if he'd been working or doing anything too long. 

This continued for three months, during which the weight of the world that seemed to forever press on Alec's shoulders became unburdened, a renewed vigor springing into his step in its place. Even his parents commented that Alec was smiling all the time. He couldn't tell them the reason for it, of course, because to anyone's ears it would sound foolish. Who should be this happy, and this content with the world, because of a _cat_? A cat who would never judge him, yet seemed to know Alec inside out, without even saying a single word. The cat spoke to him with body language and gestures that were altogether too human, and yet Alec never felt anything but at home in its company. How could he feel anything but completely at ease, when it felt as though this cat had brought life into his home?

Though as the weather gave way to winter, Alec could once again sense change in the air. His parents continued their arguments as always, and no amount of time with the cat would really shift the uneasiness in his mood. He kept startling awake gripping tight to his blankets, staring around the room expecting _something_. His heart would calm and his breathing even out for two amber eyes blinking at him in the darkness, reflected in the soft moonlight shining in through his window.

One week after Alec had first woken with that sense of change being afoot, he startled awake again sitting bolt upright, ready to scream in frustration at how off-balance he felt. Alec's heart skipped first for noticing the cat was not on his usual pillow, and second for the outline of a man stood in silhouette beside the window, looking out. 

Alec jumped up, tripping over his discarded blankets in a haste to defend himself. The man rushed forward with his arms stretched out, catching Alec before he could fall. Alec gasped in surprise as two familiar amber eyes blinked back at him from the most handsome face he knew he had ever seen.

"It's you," Alec said softly, cupping the man's face and watching the way he leaned into his touch. He didn't feel frightened, or concerned, or have any sense that he should raise an alarm. He only settled more comfortably on the floor beside his bed as the former-cat mirrored his position, gently clutching on to his hand.

"Alexander," the man said, soft, and loving, and as though he had spoken Alec's name a hundred, thousand times over. "You have no idea how good it is to say your name out loud."

"And you're… _Magnus_?" Alec asked even though he knew the answer. He didn't know how he knew, though this was the name he had always thought of for the cat ever since he'd followed him home.

"Yes."

"And you're obviously not a cat," Alec added, smiling at him feeling like he was brimming over with affection; especially for seeing that affection blinking back at him. Still catlike. 

"No. But I am a warlock."

"Really?" Alec knew of warlocks, or rather he knew what he was supposed to know of warlocks. He knew a whole lot more besides that as well, and had already decided _this_ warlock was trustworthy. That he would happily put his life—and his happiness—in his hands.

"Yes. Though I confess that I have spent almost the entire last century as a cat."

"You have?"

"Yes," Magnus replied, sighing and with a look that told Alec there was a weight of burden on _his_ shoulders that would take a while to lift. He hoped to help him with that. 

"So, what happened?"

"I was cursed," Magnus told him, pain shooting across his face leaving Alec with the urge to soothe him. "Everything that I was, everything I had, was stolen from me; at least, temporarily. I was put under a spell that could only be broken by… falling in love. And now that I have," Magnus added with a soft, hopeful smile, "everything that is mine will return to me. Though I have to say, Alexander, that I would give up all of my riches and treasures, everything I used to be and have, just to spend another moment with you."

Alec ducked his head, shy though overflowing with certainty of where his future path would lead him. He curled his fingers through Magnus' and smiled, pulling him back to his bed where Magnus told him his tale, and of the life he would now return to—with Alec willingly by his side. 

In the days that followed, Alec and Magnus grew to know each other even better than ever, their affection for one another blatant and obvious for anyone to see. Wherever Alec went, Magnus did too, and vice versa, as always; it was an agony to be a part. And down by the ravine where Alec had lost his bow and quiver so many months ago only for Magnus to bring them back to him, they shared their first kiss tucked under a blanket looking up at the stars. The first kiss of many; within a month they were married, living happily ever after with so many more kisses to come. 

* * *

Alec blinks, the luxury of his chambers and life in the other reality replaced by the flickering light of a too-cold cavern. The ground beneath him is solid, though everything around him is shifting. He startles when he sees Magnus beside him, quickly turning to tug him into his arms.

"Are you okay?" he asks, feeling Magnus' hands rest against his back, though only after he hesitates first.

"I was a _cat_."

Alec presses his face into Magnus' shoulder and smiles there, squeezing him close. "You were. A really cute one."

Magnus' huff is indignant, tapping the back of Alec's head before he pulls away. "Yes, well. While that may be true, that was… disorientating."

"I can't even imagine."

"Your parents, Alexander," Magnus asks, his tongue darting out over his lips. "Do they fight like that _here_?"

"You'd have to ask Max about that. I think me, Jace, and Izzy, we didn't get to see the worst of it, because we didn't live with them. But, I guess they did."

It is strange to Alec that he can recall the arguments of his parents in _that_ place far easier than he remembers the ones from _here_. And if it is disorienting for _him_, well. How can he even understand what Magnus must be feeling?

"Tell me about being a cat," Alec says for not knowing if he wants to talk about it, or if it's best they don't talk about it at all.

Magnus closes his eyes, alarming Alec for how _unnerved_ he looks as he takes his hand and tugs for them to drop down on the couch Magnus had summoned earlier together. Alec kisses his shoulder as Magnus slips his fingers free to conjure them both a cocktail. "You have what you know to be irrational nightmares at times, yes? Like that one you have sometimes about being invisible to everyone you know?"

Alec shudders for the reminder of the dream, quickly draining his glass and thankful when Magnus immediately refills it. It is the worst dream. He is walking through his regular life with not a single person able to see him. He can walk into rooms unnoticed, go anywhere he wants in the city using his speed rune and not be seen by a single Mundane. Which isn't even the worst of the dream. What leaves him gasping himself awake is that no one knows him. That he has been erased from his world, existence sealing in around him as though Alec Lightwood never existed at all. 

Magnus doesn't know it, of course, for the dream being too painful to repeat. But the worst parts of the dream he's ever experienced are when he sees Magnus, and he doesn't see him at all. The ones where Magnus is living his life without him, looking miserable as though knowing he's missing something. Lonely, with not a way for Alec to comfort him.

Alec throws his arm behind Magnus to tug him into his side, pressing a kiss to his temple. "This _reality_ was a nightmare for you?"

"Only in part," Magnus replies, resting his hand on Alec's thigh, and nuzzling briefly against his jaw. "Though, because of my cat eyes, I cannot tell you how many times I have woken from a dream where I am trapped in a cat's body, with four paws and a tail to go with my warlock mark. More vulnerable than I have ever been. I suppose, like you, and your dream, it is the not being able to speak to anyone that is most… alarming, I suppose. That reality, it… it felt like we were there for months. Perhaps a couple of years, Alexander."

Alec pulls him tighter against him after lowering his glass to the floor, feeling Magnus jostle him to do the same before he snuggles against him. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not saying that you weren't the very best of company. That we didn't learn to communicate in our own way. Though even with that it was still terrifying."

Alec holds him in silence, now recognizing the light tremor of Magnus' body against his own. What can he say to make any of this better? When they get through all these realities, they're going to need so much time to recover. How many lifetimes are they going to live before returning to their own?

"We can wait as long as you need before we go to the next one," Alec says, even if he doesn't think there is anything to gain from delay.

Magnus groans, knocking his head against Alec's before bending to retrieve their glasses and quickly drinking his. He stands, tugging Alec to his feet, giving the chamber around them a quick glance over before slinging his arm around Alec's waist. "No. Let's get this over with. Any thoughts about where we may end up next?"

Alec wraps an arm around Magnus' shoulders as they move towards the mirror, reluctance slowing their steps. "Not a clue."

* * *


End file.
